AN: The song is Something Stupid by Frank and Nancy Sinatra. Surprise, surprise.

Disclaimer: I own neither PJO nor HoO, only the OCs and the plot. PJO and HoO belong to Rick Riordan.

Month IV, Day I

"Are you sure you don't want to?" Will asked for the umpteenth time, and I nodded, trying to ignore the disappointed expression on his face. But what did he expect? I was playing guitar for two months now, and he had asked me if I wanted to lead the sing-along at the campfire! Of course not! If I had to play in front of two-hundred campers, I'd be totally at a loss. I hated large amounts of people. I wouldn't even have come to campfire if Will hadn't asked me while giving me his best puppy-dog-look. Seriously, I was pretty sure that a pouting Will fell within the scope of the treatment that forbid ABC-weapons. Given that Will was alive and kicking, he was probably a biological weapon.

So, to put it short, he had convinced me to come to the campfire, but there was no way I would ever play in front of the whole camp. Not now, not ever. In the end, Will asked his sister Kayla, second-in-command, to do the sing-along. I sat down behind all other people. Inevitable, Will sat down next to me. Jesus Christ, I would assume that he seemed to aim at driving me insane by his mere presence. If he knew what I felt for him, of course, which I strongly hoped that he didn't.

As the time passed, he scooted closer, until the bare skin of our arms touched. If anybody else would have done that, he would have risked to have my sword pointed at his throat, but… let me put it this way: Even though we would never be together, I enjoyed and hated this at the same time. Hated it, because it was driving me insane, and enjoyed it for obvious reasons, even if he probably had no idea what I read into this.

Kayla stroke up another song, and I could see the smile on Chiron's face. Of course, everybody knew that he had a soft spot for old-fashioned music. In this case, Frank Sinatra: Something Stupid. 1967.

I know I stand in line until you think you have the time to spend an evening with me.

How much I'd love to spend an evening with Will.

And if we'd go some place to dance, I know that there's a chance you won't be leaving with me.

I had learned how to dance at Westover Hall… If I still could?

And afterwards we drop into a quiet little place and have a drink or two.

Fun fact: I had never drunk alcohol. Guess I had no time for it, saving the world and all.

And then I'll go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like 'I love you'.

How I'd love to say these words to Will.

By now, our faces were like two inches away from each other. And the distance was getting smaller. One inch, half an inch, a few millimeters…

"GIVE THAT BACK, JACKSON!"

We flinched and pulled away. As I spun around, ready to murder whoever had interrupted my almost-kiss with Will, I saw that Jason was chasing Percy, who held a bunch of marshmallows above his head, around the campfire. I clenched my fists. If it weren't for these two world-class-idiots, I would be kissing Will right now. This was one of these moments when I wished Percy would have never made it out of Tartarus. Yes, I was so angry that I wished that on him. At first, I had found his dorkiness cute, but now, it was simply annoying. Annoying the Hades out of me.

I fruitlessly tried to calm down. Then I felt Will's hand on my wrist, and I flinched. I wasn't ready to talk to him now. Knowing my bad luck, I had read to much into this anyway. He had most likely not meant to kiss me. So, without paying him, or Percy, or Jason, or anyone any more attention, I shadow-traveled into my cabin. And when realization slightly came to my mind, torturing me with the thought that I had been so close to having what I would never have, to kissing Will, I buried my face in my pillow and cried.

Month IV, Day II

KNOCK-KNOCK!

I woke up to the sound of someone mishandling the door knocker of the Hades cabin. Another item on my to-do-list: Replace skull-shaped the door knocker. Along with the coffin-like beds and the dripping candles.

I opened the door, realizing too late that my eyes were still red and swollen from crying all night. And, of course, in front of me stood Will. Before I had overcome my shock, he had already invited himself into my cabin and closed the door. Yeah, my bad luck again. As if I'd need to be tortured some more.

When I regained my composure, I closed my mouth and spun around. "What is it, Solace?" I bluntly asked. A hurt expression spread across Will's features. "Since when are do you call me by my surname, di Angelo?" he shot back. I sighed. "What is it, Will?" Will didn't relax. "Is it about yesterday?" I pried. "If so, why don't you already spit it out instead of coming here and discovering that you don't have the guts to say what you want to say?" I knew that it wasn't fair to take my anger out on him instead of Percy and Jason, but at the prospect of what I expected him to say, I couldn't help but get upset.

"I'm sorry that we got interrupted" came Will's voice.

"See? Wasn't that hard to—wait, what?" His answer left me utterly confused. Will didn't look into my eyes when he repeated his statement.

"I'm sorry that we got interrupted" he whispered, barely audible. "You… are?" I stuttered, overwhelmed with the implications of this line. He was sorry that we didn't get to kiss each other? "Yeah" was his only reply. Only then he looked up, and, as cheesy as it sounds, his blue eyes looked right into mine. He took a hesitant step forward, and another one, and he leant in, our faces once again inches away from each other…

"Don't!" I gasped. I didn't see his hurt-surprised expression when I spun around on my heels and rushed out of the door, only to dissolve into the shadows once I left the cabin.

In that moment, seconds away from kissing Will, I had had a terrible feeling, commonly known as 'what-if'. What if he discovers that he doesn't like me that way? What if he breaks my heart? What if he finds he likes someone else more and leaves me broken-hearted? What if, what if, what what what what if…

I materialized somewhere inside the woods. I had no idea where I was, but apparently the weather-control didn't apply for the forest, because it was raining, matching my mood. Within seconds, my clothes were soaked, my hair was wet, and the tears that streamed down my face mixed with the raindrops. And though I knew that I had screwed everything up, maybe it was for the better. Rather yearning for a lost love for the rest of my life than feeling like Elysium for a few weeks and be hurt for the rest of my life, haunted by dreams of what I would have had. I lay down, not caring about the fact that the raindrops hit my face, and stared at the gray sky. Eventually, I fell asleep.

Month IV, Day III

"Are you Nico?" a curious voice asked. I woke up, having a terrible headache, a terribly dry throat, and a terribly empty stomach. A dryad stood nearby and watched me with curious eyes. I sat up. "Who's asking?" I rather croaked than said, feeling sore from sleeping on the ground. The dryad tilted her head. "The name's Rowan. Are you Nico, or are you not?" I nodded, and immediately gave a wince of pain. Holy Hades, my head hurt!

Rowan shrugged. "Well, a young man is running through the forest since sunrise, shouting your name. Just in case you are looking for him, too, he's at Zeus' fist at the moment." She pointed in the vague direction of the big rock in the middle of Camp Half-Blood's forest. So Will was searching for me, helpful fool he was. Why would I want to talk to him? I'd either hurt him more than I already had by refusing to talk about my running away, or he'd try to convince me that everything would be alright if I told him about my doubts. Nonetheless, I began walking in the direction Rowan had pointed. Well, more like tried to walk. My knees buckled, and I collapsed.

"Oh my" the wood nymph sighed, and made a few sounds in Dryad language. "My sisters will guide the young man here. You obviously need help." I wanted to shake my head, but I didn't have the power to do so. The growling of my stomach and the pulsating pain in, well, every spot of my body merged into an overwhelming emotion. My vision got blurry, and the last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was a face bordered by mop of blonde hair.

I woke up and felt warm. Like somebody had wrapped me into way too many blankets. I tried to shove the blankets away, just to find that there weren't any blankets. Something living lay next to me, or rather, wrapped around me. I lazily opened my eyes, and was wide awake in an instant.

Next to me, in my bed, lay Will Solace. Shirtless. Just as I was. Our bare skins touched, and his arms were wrapped around me.

My sudden movement woke him up, and he yawned, stretching all his limbs.

"What the fuck Solace? What are you doing here?" I yelled. Will's expression changed from tired to hurt and guilty. He mumbled something under his breath. "What was that?" I demanded. "You were suffering hypothermia" he mumbled. "You needed warmth. And you had nightmares. So we needed somebody to hold you and warm you, and I—I figured you would mind me the least" he muttered, blushing at the last words. I felt the flush creep into my cheeks as well. His explanation was totally logical, I would have probably freaked out if I woke up with Percy or Jason in my bed and snuggling up to me, but holy freaking shit? Didn't he realize what this did to me?

Will's expression turned stern, as if he suddenly got remembered that he was supposed to be angry with me. "Why did you run away anyway?" he demanded. "Why for every god's sake did you disappear for twelve goddamn hours, scared me to death, almost froze and dehydrated yourself to death?" He sat up and crossed his arms. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

I averted my gaze. "I was… scared" I murmured, and immediately, the hurt look was back on Will's face. "Scared… of me?" he asked. "Nico, I swear, I would never, never hurt you! I'd rather—" I cut him off. "Not scared of you. Scared of… getting together and losing you. Scared of how strong my feelings are. Scared that we wouldn't work out. Scared that something might go wrong." I felt like a complete idiot, but how could he even think I'd be scared of him?

Will cupped my face with his hands, and though I originally wanted to, I didn't pull away. "Nico, look at me. I can't promise that we work out. I can't promise that everything will be alright. I can't come up with a cheesy line about you being the love of my life. But I can promise that I'll try, if you let me. And I can swear that I love you." I looked into his eyes, our noses and foreheads touching. "Please, Nico, give me, give us a chance." His face showed nothing but sincerity, and for a moment, I let my defenses down and allowed my feelings to forge ahead. Tears filled my eyes, and I shifted my head slightly to close the distance between our lips. At last.